Russia resists nationwide lockdown despite record daily Covid-19 deaths

One country is refusing to implement a nationwide lockdown, despite surging Covid-19 case numbers and record daily deaths.

Russia is refusing to implement a national lockdown despite record daily Covid-19 deaths and surging case numbers near all-time highs.

The country’s coronavirus task force reported 973 deaths on Tuesday, the highest since the start of the pandemic, according to the Associated Press.

It comes after the country repeatedly reached new record daily death counts this month. There were 28,190 new cases reported on Tuesday.

The task force says there have been more than 7.8 million Covid-19 cases and 218,345 deaths in total, the highest in Europe.

However Russia’s state statistics agency Rosstat, which also counts deaths where the virus was not the main cause, puts the figure at around 418,000, which would make Russia the fourth worst-hit country behind the US, Brazil and India.

Currently, 11 per cent of the country’s 235,000 hospitalised Covid-19 patients are in serious or critical condition.

But despite the surging deaths and cases, the Kremlin has ruled out a nationwide lockdown, the AP reports.

Instead, decisions on coronavirus restrictions have been delegated to regional authorities.

Tourists walk at Vorobyovy Hills observation point in Moscow. Picture: Alexander Nemenov/AFP

In response to the recent surge, some regions have implemented restrictions on large public gatherings and implemented vaccination requirements for restaurants and other venues – but life in the capital Moscow and other large cities remains largely normal.

Russia has not had a nationwide lockdown since early last year.

The “non-working” period, announced in late March 2020, ended on May 12.

President Vladimir Putin said at the time that Russia had used the self-isolation period to prepare its healthcare system, increasing the amount of hospital beds and saving “many thousands of lives”.

“[This] allows us to begin a gradual lifting of restrictions,” he said during a televised meeting with officials responsible for the country’s virus response.

“It is in the interest of all of us for the economy to return to normal quickly. The epidemic and associated restrictions have had a strong impact on the economy and hurt millions of our citizens.”

According to the AP, Russia has blamed the sharp rise in cases and deaths on slow vaccination rates.

Only around 29 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, and less than 33 per cent have had one dose, the government said on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP

Mr Putin on Tuesday stressed the importance of vaccines and urged newly elected politicians to encourage the population to get the jab – but said people should be persuaded without resorting to government pressure.

“We must patiently and persistently work with people and explain all the advantages of prophylactics against that dangerous disease,” he said, the AP reported.

But while Mr Putin has said he opposes mandatory vaccines, he has not stopped mandatory vaccination orders imposed by local and regional governments across the country.

Over the weekend, UK media reported claims that Russia’s spies had stolen the formula for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to create its Sputnik vaccine – which uses similar technology.

According to a report in The Sun, security services say they have proof one of Mr Putin’s spies stole vital data from the drugs firm in person, including the blueprint for the Covid-19 jab.

“We live in world where there’s state activity seeking to engage in industrial espionage and economic espionage,” UK Home Office Minister Damian Hinds said on Sunday.

“We face threats of this type that are different, they are more sophisticated, they are more extensive than they ever have been before. Constantly there are foreign states who would like to get their hands on sensitive information including sometimes commercial secrets.”

A UK-based spokesman for the Russian government’s Russian Direct Investment Fund said in a statement: “UK media reports that Russia’s Sputnik V was allegedly based on research from the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is another fake news and blatant lie based on anonymous sources.”

Originally published as Russia resists nationwide lockdown despite record daily Covid-19 deaths